We hosted my wife's 30th birthday party at our home. While most guests removed their shoes, one in particular did not and she was wearing high heel shoes with a rather large problem. The little rubber cap at the bottom of the heel had worn out, exposing the small nail. We had hundreds of small indentations all over our floors - throughout the entire house. It was a flipping disaster.
I initially thought about refinishing the floors, but couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money. My father, who always seems to have some strange trick up his sleeve, provided an interesting solution: iron the floor.
Wood expands when wet. A needle is used to poke each indentation with several small holes so water can penetrate the floor’s finish and be absorbed into the wood. A damp towel covers the spot and serves to both protect the finish and act as a water delivery vehicle. An iron set to high is applied to the towel and generates copious amounts of steam, and the compressed wood begins to expand and lift.
I ironed about 800 square feet of hardwood floor, which was a monumental task. It absolutely worked and the results were terrific. While I wouldn't recommend this strategy for a large area to repair, it is perfect if you drop a dish or tool and have an isolated ding or dent in wood floor or furniture.
I did outline the horrors of this debacle in more detail in a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago, but the gist of it is included here in case you have some damaged wood you want to tackle on your own.
